Rug drying conveyor means



May 30, 1961 K. c. JONES RUG DRYING CONVEYOR MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Aug. 21, 1957 DRYING ENCLOSURE FAST FAST /I7 UNLOADING STATIONLOADING STATION FIG. I

INVENTOR. KENNETH C. Jones ATTORNEY May 30, 1961 K. c. JONES RUG DRYINGCONVEYOR MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21, 1957 INVENTOR.

b KENNETH C. Jones BY ATTORNEY ......&... m

United States Patent M RUG DRYING CONVEYOR MEANS Kenneth C. Jones, 18928Winslow Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio Filed Aug. 21, 1957, Ser. No. 679,442

5 Claims. (Cl. 198-34) This invention relates to conveyor means forcominercial employment in drying of rugs after cleaning thereof.

The invention contemplates a drying enclosure such as a building loft,and slow progress of rugs therealong, each suspended from a pole, inclosely spaced parallel relation, individual loading of the rugs ontotheir poles at a station adjacent the inlet end of the enclosure,unloading of the rugs from their poles at a station adjacent theenclosure outlet end, and return of the empty poles to the loadingstation for their reloading, with stoppage of pole movement to permitloading.

For the purpose a set of end supported and propelled poles are provided,horizontally disposed in parallel spaced relation along conveyor meansproviding an endless path of travel, the conveyor including a slowsection arranged within the drying enclosure adjacent its ceiling toprogress the poles slowly therethrough in closely spaced relation, and afast section arranged to progress the poles rapidly in widely spacedrelation through the remainder of the path, speeds and spacing being socorrelated that the poles travel their path in succession through bothslow and fast sections thereof, without piling up at any locationtherealong as between sections, that a rug may be loaded on its pole atthe loading station and elevated its suspended length therefrom beforethe next succeeding pole is there presented, and that drying may becompleted before arrival at the unloading station.

Apparatus of the class thus far described is known in the art, and thisinvention constitutes improvements therein, as will appear.

An object of the invention is to provide complete control of each polethroughout the path of travel, with positive securement of the pole inperpendicular relation to the path, Whether instantly progressinghorizontally, vertically, or slopingly therealong, to thereby eliminatepossibility of dropping, particularly at points of transfer betweendifferent moving parts as between sections of the conveyor.

Another object is to reduce the number of such points of transfer to twoonly, namely those between the slow and the fast conveyor sections.

Still another object is to improve the fast conveyor section byreduction of its parts, and simplified rigging thereof.

A further object is to arrange such rigging for improved cooperationwith the conveyor slow section, particularly at points of pole transfer.

Further objects will be apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, which are somewhatconventionalized and diagrammatic, wherein Fig. l is an elevation,viewed endwise of the poles, indicating an installation exemplifying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing details of parts indicated in Fig. 1at and adjacent the ends of the slow conveyor section, some parts beingbroken away to show details of others;

Patented May 30, 1961 Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, as in sectionalelevation in the plane of line 3-3 Fig. 2 showing track details adjacentpole ends on the conveyor means; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view as in horizontal section in the plane of line44 Fig. 2 showing details adjacent a pole end on a vertical stretch ofthe fast conveyor means.

In Figs. 3 and 4, lines 22 indicate the plane of Fig. 2.

With reference now to the drawings, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 theinvention includes a set of poles horizontally disposed in parallelspaced relation along. an endless path of travel. As indicated in Figs.3 and 4, each pole includes, at each end, a shaft 1 provided with aroller 2, and an enlarged intermediate portion 3 eccentric of its endshafts, and of length sufficient for rug widths to be accommodated,porvided with impaling pins 4 for securement of a rug thereon to bedependent therefrom.

For guidance, support and confinement of the poles along their path oftravel, a track is provided, comprising a pair of parallel rail meanseach disposed for engagement by the rollers 2 at the corresponding poleends.

As indicated in Fig. l the path thus defined includes a horizontal lowspeed or slow section located adjacent the ceiling of the dryingenclosure. Also it includes a high speed or fast section leading, from aloading station adjacent an end of the enclosure and here showntherebelow, to one end of the slow section, thence from the other end ofthe slow section downwardly to an unloading station therebelow, andreturning to the loading station.

As here indicated return is by way of a horizontal stretch just abovethe slow section within the enclosure, as preferable in mostinstallations. However the return might be arranged instead to locatethe horizontal stretch either above or below the floor of the dryingenclosure.

The rail means for defining the pole path, include horizontal, vertical,and curved interconnecting stretches,

As best shown in Fig. 3, the horizontal rails may be in the form ofangles, as at 5 and 6 along the fast and slow sections respectively,having flanges supporting the rollers 2.

I As shown in Fig. 4, the vertical rails may be in the form of widechannels 7 each having a flange against which the rollers bear.

As shown in Fig. 2, the curved interconnecting stretches are in the formof narrow channels 8 for closely confining the rollers between theirflanges through a arc. Adjacent the loading and unloading stations,similar channels are provided, extending as will be apparent.

For propulsion of the poles along the slow section of their path, uponthe rails 6, a pair of endless chains 9 are provided, each riggedbetween a pair of sprockets 10, arranged to locate a stretch of thechain adjacent its rail 6 and a return stretch therebelow. Each chain isprovided with closely spaced lugs 11 located to engage the shaft 1 of apole upon its rail and thereby advance the poles along the rail incorrespondingly spaced relation. The spacing may be in the order of 6"to 12", depending upon the installation conditions.

It will be apparent that the rails 6, with their chains 9 and lugsthereon constitute principal parts of low speed or slow conveyor sectionfor poles in closely spaced relation therealong. As the capacity of thisconveyor section may be sixty or more poles at a time, depending uponthe installation, rails for support of the chain stretches may beprovided, as at 12 and 13, Fig. 3, for upper and lower stretchesrespectively.

The rails 6 extend continuously beyond the chains 9 of the slow conveyorsection.

At the receiving end they slope downwardly from the inner flange of theadjacent curved interconnecting rail stretch 8, as shown at the right,Fig. 2.

At the discharge end they are formed to provide a rise, then adepression or dip 14, and then slope upwardly to join the inner flangeof the adjacent interconnecting rail stretch 8, as shown at the left,Fig. 2.

Preferably a slightly ofi'set transfer disc 15 is arranged adjacent thedischarge end at each rail 6 to turn concentrically with its nearsprocket 10 and provided with notches 16 to insure transfer of polesfrom the chains over the rise and to the dip. The notches are formed topropel the poles perpendicularly along the track without raising theirrollers therefrom; and are in such timed relation with the lugs 11 totake over pole propulsion therefrom without interference.

For propulsion of the poles along the fast section of their path, a pairof endless propeller chains 17 are provided, each rigged over a set ofsprockets 18 which locate their chains in planes slightly offset fromthe slow chains 9 respectively.

Each of the curved stretches of the track is matched by a concentricallydisposed sprocket 18 thereadjacent, and it will be apparent that thearrangement is such that the chains 17 are disposed along the path ofpole travel defined by the track throughout the fast portion thereof.

However, for each chain 17 its sprocket 18 include a pair of idlersprockets 18a which train the chain below the level of, along andadjacent, the slow conveyor section. More particularly, the idlersprockets provide for the fast chains a downwardly sloping appro'ach tothe slow section and an upwardly sloping departure therefrom.

As shown in Fig. 3, supporting rails are provided along the horizontalstretches of the chains 17, thus rail 19 for the lower stretch and rail20 for the upper stretch.

The chains 17 are of roller type as indicated in Fig. 4. For propellingengagement with the poles, each is provided, at widely spaced locationstherealong, with pairs of fingers 21, each pair rigidly secured upon alink, spaced to receive a pole end in the notch therebetween.

In each such pair, the leading finger is sufiiciently short to clear apole positioned in the depression 14 at the discharge end of the slowconveyo'r, and the following finger is sufficiently long to engage suchpole.

Thus a pole end positioned in the depression 14 will be engaged betweenthe next passing pair of fingers 21, propelled by the longer finger ofthe pair along its rail past the adjacent curved stretch 8 thereof, andthence will move downwardly along the succeeding vertical rail stretch,supported on the shorter finger of the pair and secured in thecorresponding notch.

As may appear from Fig. 4, in the vertical rail stretches, the bearingof a pole end upon its supporting finger will cause bearing of the polero'ller upon its rail flange, and also bearing of the next adjacentlower roller of the fast chain upon its opposite flange; the chainrollers being of slightly greater diameter than the width of theirlinks.

As appears from Fig. 2, in the upper horizontal stretch of the fastchain, the fingers 21 extend downwardly therefrom, the longer finger ofthe pair propelling the pole end along its rail 5, the shorter fingerhowever preventing any overrunning of the pole end, so that poleperpendicularity is assured.

Adjacent the receiving end of the low speed conveyor, the pole endroller rests upon the rail 6 which is there downwardly sloping so thatthe pole end tends to run ahead of the fast chain, but is preventedtherefrom by the shorter finger of the pair. As the fingers progressdownwardly with the fast chain, below the slow conveyor, they withdrawfrom the pole end, leaving it in position on its track to be immediatelyengaged by the next succeeding lug 11 on the slow chain.

Figs. 1 and 2 show close pole spacing on the slow section and widespacing on the fast section of the conveyor, but without attempt atscale or uniformity, it being understood that in practice the lugs 11are uniformly spaced along their slow chains 9, as are the fingers 21along their fast chains 17.

Also, it will be understood that the sets of lugs and fingers atopposite ends of the poles, are in alignment to maintain the polesextending perpendicularly between the rails.

Spacing along the fast chains, is at least as great as the length of theusual rug to be accommodated, for example, twenty feet, and twenty-fourtimes that along the slow chains. Then the fast chain speed must be 24times the slow chain speed, in order to prevent piling of poles at thepoints of transfer between fast and slow sections of the conveyor.

Drive of the high speed chains may be had preferably by way of thesprockets 18 adjacent the unloading station, with manual start subjectto control of an operator at the loading station as after having thereloaded a pole, and automatic stop as upon presentation of the next poleat the loading station, the rugs being automatically removed at theunloading station as known in the art.

Drive of the slow chains may be had preferably by way of their sprockets10 adjacent the discharge end of the slow conveyor, and may be throughsuitable gearing with the high speed driving means, or independently asin termittent automatically responsive to delivery of a pole to the slowsection of the conveyor, also as known.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention hereindisclosed for exemplification meets the recited objects thereof.

What I claim is:

1. Rug drying apparatus of the class described and comprising,

a set of end supported and propelled rug receiving poles horizontallydisposed in parallel spaced relation along an endless path of travel, aslow drying conveyor section having receiving and discharge ends, andextending horizontally along an elevated portion of said path betweensaid ends, and arranged to cause rug laden poles to progress slowlytherebetween in closely spaced relation,

and a fast conveyor section arranged to serve said slow section bycooperation therewith to form said endless pole path and adapted tocause movement of poles rapidly, in widely spaced relation along theremainder portion of said path, from and to said slow section,

said fast conveyor section including a single pair of endless polepropeller chains arranged to provide pole advancement throughout saidremainder path portion, to said receiving end of said slow section byway of a rug loading station, and from said discharge end thereof by wayof a rug unloading station, and to pass adjacently beneath the poles onsaid slow section without propelling effect.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said propeller chains arearranged to have downwardly sloping movement adjacent said receiving endof said slow section, and upwardly sloping movement adjacent saiddischarge end thereof.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said slow conveyor sectionincludes a pair of pole supporting rail means extending continuouslytherealong from a location adjacent its receiving end providing polesupport before discontinuance of pole propelling effect of said fastconveyor section,

to a location adjacent said discharge end before resumption of said polepropelling effect of said fast conveyor section.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said slow conveyor sectionincludes a pair of pole supporting rail means extending continuouslytherealong from a location adjacent its receiving end providing polesupport before discontinuance of pole propelling effect of said fastconveyor section,

to a location adjacent said discharge end before resumption of said polepropelling effect of said fast conveyor 2,986,263 5 6 section and saidfast conveyor section is arranged to prosaid empty pole stretch, andupwardly beneath said slow vide downwardly sloping pole deposit on saidrail means conveyor section. and upwardly sloping pole departure fromsaid rail means. References Cited in the file of this patent 5.Apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said remainder path portionincludes an empty pole stretch above said 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS slowconveyor section and said chains are provided with 2,335,790 Rarlsburg1943 pole propeller lugs disposed to extend downwardly along

